On August 6, 1945, seven B-29s are given their final briefing on the Hiroshima Mission. The strike plane carrying the Little Boy Atomic Bomb is Enola Gay, which is piloted by Col. Paul Tibbets and Capt. Robert A. Lewis. There are ten other men on board, including Capt. Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, who was the navigator. His job was to record the flight path of Enola Gay in this log, which was provided to the Atomic Heritage Foundation by Clay Perkins. This document begins on 2:55am when Enola Gay takes off and ends on 2:58pm when they landed back at the base in Tinian Island. All time is recorded in Tinian time; the time in Hiroshima is one hour earlier. Below are selections from Van Kirk’s log.
Point: APO 247, Tinian
Time Takeoff: 245
Time Landed: 1458
Position – Time (Military) – Remarks [AHF Notes are in italics]
N. Tip Siapan – 0255 [Northern tip of Saipan, 10 min after takeoff]
…
18°43’N 144°21’E – 400 – ETA 0552
…
IWO – 0555 – Circleing Left For Rend [Iwo Jima, planes are sic:circling for rendezvous]
IWO – 0602
…
ONC – 0650 – ETA 0742
…
IP – 0912 – Large 8[?] ships in Harbor [IP: Initial point to start the bomb run]
Bomb Away – 0915 – At Mishima, Circle E. Of Target [Mishima, sic: Hiroshima]
Mishima – 0931
…
29° 43′ E 137° 03’E – 1041 – 10:52 Cloud Gone [368 miles from Hiroshima, mushroom cloud no longer visible]
…
10’R IWO – 1219
…
Base – 1458 [Arrive at Tinian Island]
